For once the weather in SoCal was helpful to beer drinkers. A nice, cold layer of June Gloom settled in on the weekend of Mumford Brewing Co.’s 1st Anniversary party. Good because the 1st Anniversary beer was a Russian Imperial Stout by the name of Great Uncle George. In three different versions, no less. You could taste the Barrel-Aged version, the Irish version and the George Brett version (for you KC Royals fans).
Of the three, the Irish version seemed the most fully realized. The Barrel-Aged was fine but I would have liked to have seen it sit in the barrels longer. Seemed unready to me, as did the Brett version which tilted more RIS and much less farmhouse funky. My winner for the day was another politically inspired IPA, this time “Make Hops Great Again.” the latest IPA in their stable which would pair well with the Unpresidential NE Style IPA.
It has been great to see the growth of the brewery from first visit until now. They are becoming a great place to get a crowler of an IPA and also find a rotating set of beers. It will be fun to chart their progress in year 2!
News & Notes – DTLA Version
Despite Monday being a beer off-day for me, I headed down to Angel City to hear what some of the DTLA breweries had to say about the area and the growth of LA beer as well as their fledgling DTLA Brewers United group.
I took notes and when I got home, a trend emerged. They were mostly about Mumford Brewing. Not a smack at all against the others on the panel but what was piquing my interest were three things from the Skidrokyo brewery…
1. Cloudy IPA is coming this weekend. Will our West-Coast San Diego culture join this trend?
2. Mumford is looking into canning and getting some core beers onto shelves
3. June 12th is the date for the 1st Mumford anniversary. They will have a Russian Imperial Stout in three different variants.
Other tidbits, Indie Brewing is looking at end of year for their tap room to be open. Arts District Brewing is looking at creating a “Study Room” for the more beer obsessed and geeky. Plus this fall, their just might be a DTLA only brewfest.
Greenbar – Hop ’til You Drop
Over last weekend, I made a return visit to Greenbar Distillery to test out two new hops infused liquers that will be coming out on the market. Both will fly under the FruitLab banner with the first ready to buy now and the second named Grand Hops coming later.
The first has been dosed with Bravo and Citra hops and was wicked, sickly sweet. To me it was more simple syrup or candy, than hops. I can see how it could add to a cocktail, in fact the Hop Drop cocktail that was being poured was quite nice, though I could have used a bit more fizz to it.
The cloudy and unfiltered, Grand Hops version dials down the sweet and ramps up the bitterness which is very earthy and tree bark-y. More ABV heat shows up here since the sugar isn’t there to smooth that over. The bitter aftertaste was a bit much in conjunction with the sweet. And the California Love cocktail played up the liquer to a detrimental effect to me.
To compare and contrast, Greenbar also had a Simcoe ice tea and Citra sparkling soda to try. And to be frank, I would have bought either of them before the alcoholic cousins. Both the tea and the soda added a balancing note to the hops used and were very refreshing and very aromatic. A little spritz of gin and I would have had a quick and easy cocktail that would have worked wonders for me.
Maybe a cocktail pro would find standout uses for these new products separately, but, for me, I would blend the two together to tone down the sweet and create a more balanced bottle for mixing.
First Look – Iron Triangle
Usually breweries in Los Angeles have a built in happy to visit vibe. I may have higher expectations and knowledge of some more than others but generally as I walk in the door it is easy for me to set that bias aside and just taste the beers.
That was harder for my first trip to Iron Triangle on Industrial Street. The owner had been a little too “forward” with his advances and has caused some negative attention to flow before the taps were even opened.
As I entered the unmarked space just down the street from the famed Little Bear, I saw a hulking dark brown wood bar to the right and a set of gleaming brewing equipment in front of me. Others from the beer media crowd were already there so I quickly perused the list…
…I sampled the first five on the list and across the board they were all well done. Not a lot of bells and whistles, just straight up solid ales. My particular favorites were the barleywine which had a more toffee forward flavor and would pair well with dessert, the pale ale which I found to have a pleasing grapefruit character and the plainly named Iron Triangle Ale which is the lightest of the bunch but had a nice sparkle to it. The dark lager got a share of kudos from those in attendance too.
Nathan Pacetti the guiding force of the brewery was in appreciative form and took time to talk to most everyone in attendance and I got to speak with former Maui Brewing brewer, Darren Moser who seemed glad to be working with brewing boots on the ground.
Right now, they are only occupying part of the eventual full footprint. But they have built in room to grow next door. They open in mid-January.
Re-Review: Mumford Brewing
Since my initial visit to Mumford in DTLA, I have been back two more times and it is time to update my views on the beers and the brewery. The big plus now is that they have a crowler fill station up and running. For $10-$12 bucks you can take home a fresh can of beer. That is great.
What also is heartening is that the beers are gradually improving. In my first taster tray, I really only enjoyed the LA Crema. The rest, including a strange rauch-hop IPA were underwhelming. Now hop heads have their choice of multiple IPA’s and a double IPA. I found Rambis IPA to be to my liking as was the DIPA, Looters. The Hop Rations IPA had a brilliant tropical fruit forward start but then faded into a strange bitterness that coated the tongue. It was truly a Jekyll and Hyde beer. The new dubbel tasted more like a German hefe crossed with a pretzel. It was fine if a bit watery but certainly not up to dubbel strength. The Scottish Stout, Groundskeepers was just fine. Nice dark color and easy drinking malt base.
The beer is improving to match the surrounding and on Sunday, you can park in the lot next door for free.
The beer variety is fine though I don’t quite taste a house character or a theme to their offerings that would mark them as unique but that may come in time.
Greenbar Distillery
Last Sunday, beer buddy Richard and I went as far south as the 10 freeway in DTLA to visit the Greenbar Distillery and take their tour of the facility.
This is the only distillery in Los Angeles and the rules governing their tasting room are archaic, at best. You can buy a bottle of rotgut on any corner in this town with no issue but a tasting room at the actual distillery can only sell bottles if you sign that you are taking it out of state as a gift and not opening it in the State of California. Which is of course completely unenforceable. They also have to carefully monitor the amount of tasting room pours.
That stupidity out of the way, the tour at Greenbar is well done. The guides have the patter down cold but it isn’t just rote memorization. There appears to be a genuine care taken in all aspects of the process and a desire to be innovators and not just imitators. And plenty of information is delivered in the hour long tour.
Their procedure for creating whiskey is time consuming and out of the ordinary (using a tea bag of sorts to lower a melange of smoked woods into their barrels) as is their devotion to using spices, fruits and vegetables that are organic in their other spirits. And they have an extensive line-up from vodkas, to rums to bitters and liqueurs.
My favorite was the brownish dusty gin under the Tru brand. It was bright and really featured a citrusy botanical mix. The spiced rum was also quite well done though not subtle by and stretch and their first attempt at whiskey was unique. It packed heat aplenty but also really brought the grain forward in a way I have not tasted in other whiskies.
On the downside, the tequila seemed abrasive and non-complex for a Reposado and the Grand Poppy bitter liqueur was overly floral with a wicked vegetal bitter kick that had me looking for water.
The tour is fairly priced at $12 and allows for a second tasting to try the full spectrum of products plus a 20% store discount.
After the tour, I wanted to hit Mohawk Bend to try a gin and tonic and see how it tasted.
Mikkeller in L.A.
It has been confirmed that Mikkeller is coming to L.A. in bar form at least.
Those who have made the trek north to San Francisco to their Mikkeller Bar will be excited that L.A. will get a version of their own. The corner of Olympic and Olive will be the home of ours. How long until we have our choice of tap Mikkeller beer remains to be seen but expect a year before we see the multi-tap extravaganza of well-curated beers to open.
Then we will join the ranks of Copenhagen, Seoul and Reykjavik in the Mikkeller family.
Review – DTLA Craft Beer Crawl
Talking about the California drought and the seeming non-stop heat is getting old but it does play into beer festivals because most are held out of doors and it can dampen the fun like sweat on a shirt.
The 2015 version of the LA Craft Beer Crawl had the blazing sun to contend with more than most because it’s strongest and best attribute (other than the beer, of course) is the walking the streets of Downtown LA. Seeing new condos and new business but also seeing the old side of the city from street level and not just the 110 freeway.
The check-in process this year was notably smoother (and on time) and in a new spot near Cole’s and Las Perlas. From there me and beer buddy Rich headed to the Golden Gopher to have Return of Sassy and then Even Sassier. Starting the day off with a rye bang. Then through the heat to Seven Grand to partake of two new Highland Park beers, Hammered Satin an Oatmeal Stout and then Dank You Very Much which was my pick for beer of the day. A lovely IPA that I could have had all day long.
From there we snuck into The Varnish with our press passes to try another HPB beer, Uncultured. A wine barrel aged bottle offering that then faded into having Mattina Rossa from Allagash. In between we chatted with Bob from HPB, Omar from Three Weavers, Jon Carpenter from Angel City and David Munro from Bell’s.
Our stamina fading we went back across 6th Street to Casey’s and grabbed a Phantom Carriage saison before calling it a day.
As usual, this is one of the better fests for beers. A wide swath of breweries are involved. Locals and non-locals are welcomed. It is a great activity for newbies to beer because you have choices that aren’t whale driven. Yes, there are rarities but anyone can get get a taste of a special beer like Golden Brett from Allagash next to a lager from Ninkasi.
As I mentioned, I loved the aspect of walking because it cuts down on the bro’ness that other festivals have to deal with. The annoying aspects are contained in just one space. This year the signage at each entrance was great. But inside each space, especially Casey’s, finding the brewery you wanted was made more difficult because the signs inside were in matte black with dark grey writing and even the most eagle eyed could barely make out the words. (My press pass was inches from my face before I could read the word “Press”) This was in stark contrast to the blinding yellow volunteer shirts that were in abundance. It would also have been better to have the check-in not so near to two of the stops. It made those two hard to get into and out of. I liked that no beer was being served at the check-in but it would be great to have it in a central spot in the city to subtly force people to scatter in all directions.
Those are little tweaks to make an already great LA institution better. Kudos to Christina / Hallie and the 213 group for another job well done.
First Look – Boomtown Brewery
I had the chance to sample a pair of Boomtown Brewery beers during the L.A. Beer Week bash and came away encouraged. Did they blow me away? No. But they tasted further ahead then some breweries at that point in the process so when Josh from Food GPS alerted me to a soft opening at their downtown LA location, I jumped at the chance to see the place.
Despite the oppressive heat and impressive crowd was on hand as I rolled in at 7pm. The space is not taproom ready at this point but if they and Angel City and Mumford can coordinate walking tours, you could easily walk all three on an afternoon of craft beer drinking.
I ordered up a Nose Job IPA since that will eventually be a line-up regular and was semi-pleased. Pretty dank to me but not heavy or over bitter. It doesn’t break new ground but is solid. I followed that up with B-Side a hoppy red that started off to sweet but started tasting better as the full set of flavors started working together.
I am glad to see that they are doing a mix of Belgian and American styles and I think that this could be a solid player in the industry.
Crawling in DTLA
It is time to plan your beer time around the 6th annual LA Craft Beer Crawl which will take place (where?) in downtown LA on Saturday, August 29th.
This is a heckuva event. One of the better on the LA Beer Calendar and it is because of the fact that “Attendees will have over 100 craft beers to sample across 7 unique downtown LA bars & restaurants, all within walking distance. The event is a collaboration between 213 and The Beer Chicks, Hallie Beaune and Christina Perozzi. As always, the beer selection will be curated by The Beer Chicks and will feature the top craft and artisanal brewers in the country!”
And a helpful hint, the VIP tickets are well worth it.